Okay, here’s my personal take on how I usually find the best flight deals using comparison websites, written in a casual, blog-style format:
Alright, so everyone wants to save money on flights, right? I’ve booked a ton of flights over the years, and my go-to method is always hitting up those flight comparison websites. Here’s how I usually do it:
My Step-by-Step Flight Deal Hunt
First, I open up a few different comparison sites. I don’t just stick to one, because sometimes they show different results. Get a few tabs going!
Next, I punch in my departure city and my destination. Pretty basic, huh? But here’s a trick: If your dates are flexible, play around with the calendar! Sometimes shifting your trip by a day or two can make a HUGE difference in price.
I also always check that “nearby airports” box. You never know, sometimes flying out of a smaller airport a little further away can save you a bunch of cash.
- Mix and match airlines: Don’t be afraid to fly out with one airline and back with another. Sometimes that’s cheaper than a round-trip ticket with the same company.
Once I’ve got the basic search going, I start messing with the filters. This is where you can really narrow things down.
If I can, I am avoid super early or super late flights. I filter those out right away. I value my sleep, thank you very much.
I also keep an eye on the layover times. I don’t want to spend 12 hours in some random airport, so I usually set a maximum layover time.
After I’ve tweaked the filters to my liking, I start scanning the results. The websites usually sort by price, but I also pay attention to the total travel time.
When I find a flight that looks promising, I don’t book it right away. I open a new tab and go directly to the airline’s website. Sometimes – and I mean sometimes – it’s actually cheaper to book directly with the airline.
I have checked multiple flights in this way, and finally get the best one!
That’s pretty much my process! It’s not rocket science, but it’s helped me score some seriously cheap flights over the years. Happy travels!
